Phoenix Suns trade Alando Tucker to Minnesota

The Suns traded third-year guard Alando Tucker this afternoon to Minnesota in a move that will save nearly $1 million and allow them to keep Jarron Collins on the roster.

Phoenix traded Tucker and a conditional second-round pick to Minnesota for Jason Hart, a point guard with a non-guaranteed deal that the Suns will waive. Minnesota gets the Suns' second-round pick in the June draft unless it falls in the top 40. In that case, Minnesota would receive the Cleveland second-round pick that is owed to the Suns.

The Suns will pay the remainder of Tucker's $1.07 million salary and give the Timberwolves an additional $100,000. The Suns' savings come from how much less they will be taxed for being over the luxury tax threshold.

Collins' contract becomes fully guaranteed for the season Jan. 10 but he would have to have been waived by Jan. 6. Until the Tucker trade, the Suns were carrying an extra player over the 13-man roster minimum so waiving Collins was being considered to save money.

"We felt like Jarron was a valuable player for us to keep so we'd been talking to teams," Suns General Manager Steve Kerr said. "He's a great insurance policy, as he proved early in the season. He helped win a couple games when we had foul trouble or when Robin (Lopez) was injured. He's a great teammate and mentor for Robin. It's always important to have an experienced big in the playoffs who knows what he's doing. Whether he gets in a game or not, he's valuable because of his intangibles. He's a future coach if he wants to be."

Collins has not appeared in a game since Dec. 11 and only played 15 minutes this month.

The Suns made Tucker the 29th overall pick in the 2007 draft but he had never cracked the rotation in Phoenix. This season, he fell further out of the depth chart. He already was behind Jason Richardson and Leandro Barbosa at shooting guard but the Suns also have begun to use Goran Dragic and Jared Dudley at the off-guard position too. Tucker appeared in 47 games with the Suns over 2 1/2 seasons, averaging 4.3 points on 42.2 percent shooting. He was 1 for 7 on 3-pointers in 11 games this season.

"As much as we like Alando, he's just not going to crack the rotation," Kerr said. "This gives him a fresh start."

Once the Suns waive Hart, Phoenix will be at the 13-man roster minimum with Collins and rookie Taylor Griffin, the only players whose contracts were not guaranteed for the entire season.

Kings update: Sacramento is 14-19 after having the NBA's worst record (17-65) last season. The Kings have lost five of their past six but were missing Rookie of the Year candidate Tyreke Evans for three games and challenged the Lakers twice and Dallas once. Spencer Hawes had a career-high 30 points Friday vs. the Lakers. Evans returned from a sore ankle Saturday vs. Dallas but moved to off guard to leave Beno Udrih at the point. At times, Sacramento has started the second-youngest lineup in NBA history.